The Hanging Tree
by nariai
Summary: In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to save. [Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Freya's twin.]
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, my lovelies. Here is my newest story. I hope you will enjoy it.**

 **I have been planing this for a while now and finished this chapter a few minutes ago, actually. For those who have read my other stories, I will try updating 'Metempsychosis' and 'The Travelers Future' soon. The next chapter of 'Until We Go Down' will be ready soon.**

 **If you haven't read those yet, you should try them out.**

 **Anyway, I am not sure when I will be able to update this story again. I will try to do so soon.**

 **Warning: The rating of this story might be changed in the future. If any of you hope for some kind of epic love story or something this is not the right place to search for it. There will be love, but it wont be the main focus of the story.**

 **Summary: In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to safe. Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Freya's twin.  
**

* * *

 _The Hanging Tree_

 _Chapter 1_

 _Prologue_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _How The Mighty Fall_

* * *

 _"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;_  
 _I lift my eyes and all is born again."_  
 _― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar_

 _"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.'' ― Winston S. Churchill_

* * *

My end started with small blue spots on my skin. They appeared in random places and mostly after my volleyball lessons.

I did not think much about them. They were insignificant in comparison to my approaching exams. So insignificant in fact that I soon forgot about them.

A mistake I would never make again.

The second clue of there being something wrong with me were the nose bleeds. I blamed stress and a high blood pressure for them.

Not even once did I think about going to a doctor.

When I finally fainted in the middle of my chemistry class and my mom forced me to go to the hospital, it was already too late.

 _Acute myeloid leukemia_

The chances of me being cured were low from the beginning on. I was dead the moment Doctor Miller gave me my prognosis.

Sadly, I had been underaged, thus my mom choose the next course of action. _Chemotherapy._

One of the biggest mistakes we ever made.

Before I even knew what was happening, I couldn't recognize my own body anymore. The beautiful auburn hair on my head was gone, my skin almost translucent and playing my favorite sport was not an option anymore. The few steps to my bathroom became one of the biggest challenges I had ever had to withstand.

I couldn't even eat the cookies my grandma made. Everything had lost its taste.

However, if I had to decide which of the side effects was the worst, I could say without a doubt it was the Typhilitys.

 _Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, a distended abdomen, fever chills, fever, abdominal pain and tenderness._ Those were all the symptoms. The nurses called my condition a medical emergency.

A few hours after I was told the diagnosis my heart stopped beating.

I died in pain, resenting my mother for the choices she had made. Irrational it might have been, but nothing could have changed what I felt at that moment. Not even the high dose of painkillers I had been given.

I died a month before my seventeenth birthday, welcoming death's embrace with open arms.

* * *

The heartbeat of a person. The presence and touch of another.

Those three things kept me sane for eight and a half months. They accompanied me in the darkness and through the development that took place in the following months.

Hearing, sight and touch.

One after another those senses developed and colored my previously bleak existence.

I did not know where I was. Sometimes, I was not even truly aware of the fact that I still existed.

I knew that I had _died._

But somehow, the universe had decided to use me in one of its biggest jokes.

 _I was still here. I was still alive._

It took me some time to realize what happened. For this new body, my mind and soul were still too developed. It was not strong enough to allow me thinking about the workings of the universe and other bullshit like that.

Thus I stayed unconscious most of the time. The only things that kept me aware of the fact that I was still there, wherever 'there' actually was I had no idea, were the constant and calm heartbeat and the sporadic touch of another person.

They became my lifelines.

That is until the day that my new dull existence was shattered with the disappearance of the presence besides me. I did not notice it immediately. There were other things I had to worry about.

Like the space around us trying to squeeze the two of us together. I had never been claustrophobic, but that experience made me reconsider that notion.

When the presence―no the person with whom I had shared my home? Prison? Afterlife?― had suddenly disappeared and I once again had enough space to move and think properly for a second, I felt relieved.

That relief only lasted till I realized that I was _alone._

The companion at whose side I had been living for what seemed like an eternity was gone and I was utterly alone in a place I knew nothing about.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it's a matter of perspective, I followed soon after _her._

At that time I hadn't known what was going on. Only that someone had taken the only familiar thing I had from me and was now trying to take me as well.

Fighting against it was pointless and later I would consider myself lucky at the fact that I hadn't had the power to even try.

In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to safe.

 _Eira._ That's the name my new parents gave me. Right after finding a name for my twin.

 _Freya Mikaelson._


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, 100 followers and 68 favorites for one chapter. You have no idea how happy that makes me. Thank you for the support and please leave a review.**

 **Summary: In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to save. [Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Freya's twin.]**

 **Have fun.**

* * *

 _Edited on the 25th of March 2017. I have added an extra scene at the end of this chapter._

* * *

 _The Hanging Tree  
_

 _Chapter 2  
_

 _The Outlander_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Where She Awoke To Another Life_

* * *

 _"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."_  
 _― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_

* * *

I had been catholic once.

 _Now I wasn't so sure anymore._

I had once been born to a woman who had decided to have a child after reaching the prime of her career. No father there, only the seeds of an unknown man that lived somewhere in Germany.

 _The warmth of a father was something I had never even hoped to receive.  
_

I had once been raised by my aging mother to be a bratty and spoiled child. The world had laid at my feet and I had a bright future before me in a society more accepting than most.

 _Everything was different now. Accepting? What a joke._

I had once been an only child.

 _She was here now and I knew what I had missed once upon a time. My only light in this new and frightening situation was one of the two things I did not have before._

A sibling and a father.

I had once been Julia Bergemann, a teenage girl living in Germany.

 _That girl did not exist anymore. She had died of cancer, resenting the woman who had been her mother for making her already bad situation worse. Despite knowing that she had done nothing to deserve the honor, that girl had still hoped to be granted entrance into heaven._

But there was no heaven and either _this_ was hell or the Christians and all the other religions that believed into those fucking things had it all wrong.

And I was the living prove of that. I who had once died as Julia Bergemann and then proceeded to enter the so called reincarnation cycle as Eira Mikaelson.

What a strange name that was. Eira, I had never heard of it before and this only highlighted how far from _home_ I truly was.

I did not realize it immediately, of course. My new body still too young and feeble to be even awake for more than an hour at a time, let alone to properly think about what had happened and where I was.

And even when I did try to at least listen to what was said around me—Watching or observing were not an option. My eyes blinder than they had ever been, plunging me into a situation more frightening than anything else.—I could not understand the words spoken. A language so different from anything I had ever heard that I considered myself lucky for being able to identify the names of the few people that constantly surrounded me.

The woman—My new mother as I would later realize.—was called Esther and the man whom I had thought to be her husband was named Mikael. There was also another human there, a child—My twin, my twin sister.—whom they had named _Freya._

But those were things I realized after months of being in this new world. When the words spoken slowly and finally started to make sense to me and my almost blind eyes providentially cleared.

 _I heard, I saw and I understood._

Julia Bergemann had died of cancer and then been reborn as a tiny girl in what seemed like a thousand years in the past.

I had _died_ and come back to life as _Eira Mikaelson._

I was an infant, living in a time when child mortality was at its highest and the word equality had no meaning.

I was a murderer that had taken the place of a innocent child and was now forced to play its role.

And quite honestly, I was totally screwed.

* * *

I was about four months old when the truth of what had happened finally hit me like a car colliding with an ancient tree.

There was no escaping it. There was no stopping it. There was only the possibility of trying to salvage the broken pieces.

I never asked to be reborn. Never even considered the possibility of it.

I had died too early, tired and old in a way that only the truly ill could be.

Death had not been something I had feared. Alright, that was a lie. I had feared death and I still did, but at that time, when my body was writhing with an unimaginable pain, death seemed like the better option. I had welcomed oblivion because I had hoped that it would finally end my pain and believed that something akin to heaven was awaiting me in the afterlife.

Not this. Never this.

Not if it meant stealing the child of an innocent woman. I never expected that I would end up in such a situation. Completely unprepared, that's what I was.

And for a while, I had actually thought that I just might end up going mad. If I hadn't already, that is.

The one who actually managed to distract me enough and steer my mind away from many self-destructive thoughts was neither my new mother nor my new father, but the supposed older sibling I never expected to have.

 _Freya Mikaelson_

A tiny blonde girl with eyes as blue as the sky. The presence that had been my companion for almost nine months. My twin sister.

She was the anchor I needed in this new world and I perhaps unfairly attached myself tightly to her, never planning to let go.

I found it easy to form a bond with my new father—There was no one I was trying to replace with him. No one whom I had once loved and hated in sometimes equal measures.—but it was harder when it came to Esther.

She was a lovely young woman, perhaps almost too young to be a mother. Maybe nineteen years old. But if there was one thing she did, then it was love her children unconditionally. Sometimes when she looked at us it seemed as if she couldn't believe that we were actually there, as if we were just a figment of her imagination.

And it was that look and unconditional love that made me grudgingly accept her.

 _(Later I would come to hate myself for that blind and naive acceptance.)_

On some days, my new sister's presence, Esther's unconditional love an Mikael's complete devotion to his family actually managed to almost erase those horrible memories. Memories of pain and illness and more pain. Sometimes, even if just for a second, they made me forget about Julia Bergemann and allowed me to just be Eira.

And that, that alone was enough to make me _love_ them.

It wasn't easy to accept that I had died, lost everything I had had—I did not think that I would ever truly accept it.—but after months and months had passed and the world around me finally started to make sense, I was eventually able to live my new life as Eira.

Day in day I learned to enjoy what I now had and perhaps let go of some of the things I would never have again.

Julia Bergemann was dead. Eira Mikaelson was alive.

I only hoped that this new life, this second chance, would have a better ending than my first one did.

And now, looking upon my twin sister who was playing with a small wooden horse father had carved for us, I prayed for the one thing I had never realized that I did not have; _a future._

A future with my new family in a time that promised nothing good.

As if hearing my silent prayer, Freya turned towards me, her back leaning heavily against the wall opposite of me and the small horse in her right hand, and smiled a bright toothless smile.

We were only about eight months old. Sitting on our small bed inside our hut, not knowing any of the things the _future_ had in store for us.

Not realizing the whole truth of my existence yet, _I smiled back._

* * *

Freya's first word had been 'father'.

It was followed by my first word that quite surprisingly turned out to be 'mother'. Personally, I did not care about such trivial things, however, I had seen the way Esther looked at us when Freya called out to Mikael for the first time. Mother had been happy to hear her say something, but she had wished to be the one for whom her children called for with their first words.

Thus I decided to do her the honor and said after clapping my hands happily: ''Mother.''

She was ecstatic. Her lips turned upward into a bright smile and her eyes practically shined. Mother looked radiant and I was suddenly very glad that I had decided for that course of action.

Her happiness was infectious and my whole new family was smiling with her. Even the normally reserved Mikael had a curve to his lips.

I was in Esther's arms before I could even think about protesting, her arms squeezing me to her chest tightly and making it possible for me to notice something rather unexpected.

In a moment of outmost surprise my jaw dropped. A bump. There was a small bump where her normally flat stomach had been.

And while her weight could have just increased a little bit because she ate more than usually in the last few weeks, I knew without a doubt that this wasn't just her gaining weight.

Mother was pregnant.

How I hadn't noticed this earlier I did not know. More than once she had taken me and Freya to a stream near the village for a bath. We saw her naked then and I should have seen the changes in her body.

But I didn't and so I was left completely surprised now that I finally realized why my new parents had been behaving differently in the last few weeks.

 _I was going to be an elder sister._

''My sweet, sweet Eira. You have no idea how happy you have made your mother.'' She was twirling me around our hut, her body moving in circles and feet somehow managing to not stumble over her long dress.

I could see Mikael, standing at the sidelines with Freya in his arms and looking at us with a peaceful expression.

Giggles escaped my lips and Freya started to laugh with me. A slight breeze blew into the room through the open door and gently caressed my flushed cheeks. There was something else there as well.

Soft and protective and all around me.

I didn't know how, but a part of me reached out and grasped it lightly.

An infinite calm filled me as well as a happiness that certainly wasn't mine. Freya's bell-like giggles rang through the room.

Everything seemed to glow for a second and an unknown warmth filled my tiny body. From the outside a few leaves entered our hut and twirled in the air. There was another surge of warmth and then the connection was broken.

The whole moment felt surreal and otherworldly. I had never felt something like this before and knew that this certainly wasn't normal. Those thoughts were confirmed when my gaze settled on the woman who was holding me.

Mother's eyes shone even brighter as she regarded us twins with a knowing look.


	3. Chapter 3

**I have published a few new stories, you might want to check them out.**

 **Summary: In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to save. [Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Freya's twin.]**

 **Have fun.**

* * *

 _The Hanging Tree_

 _Chapter 3_

 _Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Where Her Life Changed Into A Fairytale  
_

* * *

 _"One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family."_  
 _― Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated_

* * *

It was a few months before my brother's birth that I met my mother's mentor for the first time and slowly started to realize _where_ I truly was. The names were the primary indicators of there being something _wrong._

Although I could have easily overlooked them if it weren't for the second warning signal.

 _Magic._

Apparently my new mother was a _witch._

It might have been hard to believe, but it was also something I could not deny after seeing what was currently happening.

Hearing a few villagers gossiping about a group of their own members coming back from a long travel, mother had practically ran out of our hut and towards the other end of the village, both Freya and I in her arms.

Considering her advanced pregnancy, it was a true accomplishment.

Seeing Ayanna, mother had happily come up to the other woman and greeted her with a bright smile. We twins were introduced to the other woman and then mother invited her into our home.

That was how I found myself on a soft fur blanket on the floor of my parents' bedroom, watching how mother laid down on a bed of dead leaves. Her head was put on Ayanna's knees. The dark skinned woman put both of her hands on Esther's head, while mother put her own palms on her bulging stomach.

And then the _chanting_ started.

The words were spoken in a language I did not understand, yet guessed to be Latin. When Freya, who sat at my side, stood up and tried to toddle in their direction, I almost failed to stop her. I did not know what was going on, thus I could not tell if it was safe for her to interrupt.

Those thoughts disappeared as soon as I saw the dead leaves coming back to life. Slowly, their color changed from an ugly brown to a lush green and beautiful rosy flowers bloomed around mother's body.

 _They had brought something dead back to life._

I had to blink a few times and rub my eyes to make sure that what I was seeing was actually _real._ Something like that should have been impossible. Plants might not have been sentient beings, but that did not nothing to lessen my amazement at the fact that I had just watched someone defy _death._

Before I could utter a word, mother raised her body and looked at Ayanna with wide eyes. ''A boy.'' She whispered breathlessly and tightened her hold around her stomach. ''He is going to be beautiful.''

A boy? What exactly did they do?

''Mother?'' Freya whispered as she once again stood up. Carefully, she toddled towards Esther, falling onto the soft plants surrounding the women.

Mother laughed happily. ''Oh Freya, did you hear? Both Eira and you are going to have a little _brother.''_

With some difficulty, mother stood up and wrapped her arms around my twin. Afterwards she started walking in my direction. Soon, I was squashed between Esther's and Freya's bodies, feeling how my supposedly little brother moved inside mother's womb.

''What was?'' We still couldn't speak perfectly and thus I often had to hope that my parents understood my stilted speech. Fortunately, both of them almost always did.

''What was _that,_ Eira.'' Mother corrected. ''And that was _magic,_ my sweet darling.''

My eyes widened in awe and shock and a startling realization danced across my mind.

 _Mikael and Esther Mikaelson. Ayanna. Magic. Witches. The 10th century._

These things could still be just a happenstance, but after all that had happened to me it was hard to believe something like that. In my first life I had been a huge fantasy and supernatural fan. I had read books and watched TV shows with those genre, among them ' _The Vampire Diaries'._ I hadn't seen every single episode of it and its spin off, but I knew enough to recognize the similarities between it and my new life.

Being a reincarnated soul did not make pretending that all this was just a coincidence any easier either.

Still, I knew better than to drive myself insane over something that might not even be real at the end. I decided to wait until the birth of my younger sibling, it would be _his_ name that would confirm or deny my suspicions.

And yet, somehow, I just _knew_ that my mother wasn't wrong.

* * *

Even though we could barely form a short sentence, mother decided that the time was right to start teaching us about our _powers._ The possibility of something like magic being actually real was still an alien notion to me.

But I had seen what two women in this world could do with a bed of dead leaves and I had felt their magic softly touch my skin. I could also remember those not so rare moments I had experienced something similar from Freya.

Besides, there was also no denying the _warmth_ inside me. It was always there, a silent reassurance and protection.

Perhaps it should have scared me a little more than it actually did, but this _magic,_ I had gotten so used to it that I couldn't even begin to imagine living without it anymore. If I had to compare it to anything, then I would say that it was like an extra limb.

Magic was invisible and untouchable, but still capable of miracles I had thought impossible in my previous life. Until now, I had not seen much of it and this power had certainly many dangerous aspects. Despite knowing all that, there was nothing in this world that could have stopped me from studying this innate ability of mine.

Who would have not loved to practice _magic?_

Though I did have to admit that at the beginning it wasn't as fantastic as Harry Potter made it out to be. There were no centuries old ghosts trying to talk to me or brooms that could fly.

Our first lesson begun with a lot of theory and a few attempts to feel our and each others magic. As it turned out, the fact that we were twins made our magic very compatible. Sometimes, it even seemed to call out to each other. There was nothing that could compare to the feeling of uniting our magic.

When it happened for the first time I understood why some people claimed that twins were two halves of the same soul. The _rightness_ I felt at my sisters side was impossible to replicate by someone else and it gave me a sense of belonging I had never felt before.

Maybe having another sibling would contradict this belief, however, I doubted that there would be ever someone else in this world who would mean as much to me as Freya did.

Freya was the sibling I never even hoped to have and the anchor that steadied me in this new life.

That did not make me care about my parents any less and I was aware that my younger sibling would most likely become another highly important person in my life. I liked to blame my childish body for getting so easily attached to the people surrounding me, but it wasn't the full truth.

Loneliness was one of the worst curses in life and something I certainly did not desire.

Besides, having people around me wasn't so bad. Especially when my mother showed me how to levitate a feather.

Physical laws had no meaning in this world. Gravity lost all of its power when magic got involved.

My high spirits fell slightly when I tried copying mother's action and my own feather did not even move the slightest bit. Freya's did not either and that made feel a little better, though still sour at my failure.

Staring at the pigeons gray feather, I pouted and narrowed my eyes. No matter how much I focused, the object just wouldn't budge. Tauntingly, it stayed on my palm and didn't move.

I sighed. ''It not working.''

My speech was slightly more advanced than Freya's which was not all that surprising. With the brain of a child that had the ability of a sponge when it came to soaking up anything it came across, it wasn't hard to learn a new language. Perhaps it was out of necessity or just the ability every child possessed, but learning new things was easier than I had ever thought possible.

A blessing given to me by whatever sick being had send me here.

''You cannot force the magic to do anything. It is a sentient being and a part of yourself. You need to accept it as much as it needs to accept you.'' Mother explained patiently as she put a her hands over my own. Then she raised it and along with it the feather. The light object hovered between our hands and I could feel mother's magic brushing my skin.

Familiar and comforting, that's how it felt. There was also the sensation of standing in a field of wildflowers and being surrounded by the chirping of birds.

Every person's magic was different and had its own signature. Freya's, for example, reminded me of the sea. It seemed calm on the outside, yet had the potential to turn into something deadly. Additionally, her magic reminded me of peaches.

Sadly, I could not feel my own magic in the same way I did that of the others. Mother had explained to me that it was impossible to, in lack of better words, taste or probe ones own magic. I could feel it just fine, but it was like trying to smell oneself. After a while it's impossible to tell if you stink or not.

Slowly, the feather was lowered onto my palm once again.

I did not manage to raise it during this lesson. Neither would I manage to do it for a few more weeks.

 _Freya made the feather fly almost a month before me._

* * *

My younger sibling's birth confirmed my worst nightmare.

He was born about four months before our second birthday and quite surprisingly both Freya and I missed the whole process. While mother gave birth in Ayanna's hut, we slept on the furs in our home, father staying there with us.

My mother's mentor came to get father after the baby was born. She remained with us as he left to meet the newest addition to our family.

In the morning _his_ cries awakened the both of us and made me blink a few times in confusion. At first I did not truly understand what was going on, my mind still fuzzy from my sleep.

Rubbing my eyes sleepily, I finally registered that there was a baby crying in our home. Its loud shrieks echoed through the small building and caused a small ache in the back of my head.

Hastily, I tumbled out of our makeshift bed and walked towards the living room and kitchen area of our hut. Father stood with his back to me, talking softly to the tiny bundle in his arms.

Feeling how a pair of little hands clutched the back of my nightgown, I smiled slightly nervously. ''Father?''

The man whirled around, his eyes slightly wider than normal. His expression quickly changed when he spotted us and a rare soft smile curled his lips. ''Eira, Freya, come meet your brother.''

My heart sipped a beat once I heard the word brother. _Now only_ his _name was missing._

With a light push Freya forced me to move in our father's direction. The man was already kneeling, the boy in his arms now visible to us. A white cloth a wrapped around my brother's form and I could a tuft of dark hair on top of his head.

It took us only a few steps to reach our newest family member. Our brother was crying, his face scrunched up and red. Eyes closed and fists clenched tightly, the infant ignored everything around him.

There was a spike of something which I quickly identified as a tiny amount of foreign and yet familiar _magic._ It seemed to be curious and slightly frightened, searching for something.

Realizing whose power it was, I let my own magic slide gently over it.

The crying ceased immediately. Opening his eyes, the little boy looked at me owlishly, his eyes too underdeveloped to properly focus on my form. Once again I felt something warm stroked over my skin, though it seemed to miss its goal as it brushed pass me.

Smiling softly, I reached out with my hand and caressed my little brother's brow softly. He smiled a toothless smile as I infused some warmth into my touch.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Freya tickling his now exposed foot. She grinned happily when the boy responded with a joyful gurgle.

''He seems to like you, my dear daughters.'' Father adjusted his grip on our brother.

Reluctantly, I decided that the time had come to ask the most important question. ''What's his name?''

The patriarch of our family answered proudly, giving me the one proof I needed to confirm my worst nightmare. _''Finn, Finn Mikaelson.''_

By the natural order of things, black spots appeared before my eyes and I _fainted._


	4. Chapter 4

**I have published a new KHR Self-Insert story. If you like that fandom, try it out.  
**

 **Summary: In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to save. [Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Freya's twin.]**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 _The Hanging Tree_

 _Chapter 4_

 _We Will Be A Perfect Family_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _How Failure Changes Into Acceptance_

* * *

 _"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."  
― Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phrynette Married _

_"Time is the longest distance between two places."  
― Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie _

* * *

By the time two winters passed I still had no plan regarding the future of my family. Most of my knowledge would only be truly useful in more than a thousand years, as such there wasn't much I could actually do right now.

Had I known that my survival would depend on watching a TV show, then I might not have skipped some episodes. As it was, I knew too little of my family's past to even try saving _my twin._

Freya Mikaelson was not a character that appeared on screen. She was just a nameless child that was supposedly killed by the plague.

 _What could I do against the plague?_

My twin sister would die and I could do nothing against it. There weren't any spells I could use to protect her and telling my mother the truth wouldn't change anything either.

Mikael was the leader of a Viking tribe and he could not just demand from his people to move half across the world because of a _dream_ one of his daughters had. Although witches weren't completely despised yet, they still weren't too popular among this simple minded society.

Another problem was that each of my actions could cause a disaster worse than canon was. Instead of Freya dying, my whole family could be killed by some bandits or we could accidentally move to some region which was already ravaged by the plague.

There were so many possibilities of things going from bad to disastrous that I did not even dare to voice my biggest fear.

 _Losing Freya was not something I could survive._

She was my anchor in this new life, the one thing that kept me sane, and I just knew that she would be the first person I would fail to save in this cruel world.

Whether the plague came for her or something else, at this young age I did not possess the necessary power to protect my twin. Perhaps if we had a few more years then I could get stronger and learn to use my magic properly, but at this point in time I was completely helpless.

And Freya would most likely pay with her life for my incompetence.

Such destructive thoughts couldn't be easily pushed aside and as the time passed I started to suffer due to the _guilt_ and _fear_ I constantly felt. Sleep did not come easily to me, not while seeing the older version of my _little brother_ die each time I closed my eyes.

 _Finn was burning in my dreams, the flames ravaging his immortal body until nothing was left._

My fear became so great that mother had ask Ayanna for help. The other witch specialized in magical herbs and potions, so she easily prepared a mixture which helped me sleep peacefully.

Unfortunately, in these times there weren't any psychiatrist that could help a four years old girl with her problems, thus I had to rely on some magical concoction.

Besides, I doubted that there would ever be a psychiatrist in the future that could actually aid me in some way either. They would just think that I was crazy the moment I confided them the truth.

Unless I found a supernatural specialist, that is. Those would probably believe me anything.

But all that would not matter as long as I did not live to see my thousandth birthday and to do that I would have to become a _vampire._

A choice I would not have to make just for myself but for all of my future _siblings_ as well. It was a burden I now carried upon my shoulders.

Although many people claimed that knowledge was power, I still wished to possess at least a little less of it. Oftentimes, I wondered _why_ I had to remember my old life and wished that _didn't._

 _Life would have been so much easier if I were only Eira._

* * *

''You need to open your mouth, Finn.'' Murmured Freya while she stopped our brother from pushing a spoon filled with some mushy broth out of my hand.

After a reluctant pause and a quick glance at our faces and the weirdly colored soup in the bowl on my lap, our little brother cautiously parted his lips. My hand darted forward before he could change his mind and pushed the small spoon into his mouth.

Luckily, he did not spit the food out on my face this time around.

Not for the first time mother had tasked us with taking care of Finn. It always happened when some of the tribe's other members required her special abilities.

We weren't left completely alone, of course. She had taken us with her and put us a few meters away from herself upon the ground. Some of the villagers reacted rather violently when mother treated their wounds, so it was safer for us that way.

Had I not been a young adult mentally, then this whole thing might have been a lot more dangerous.

As it was, I did my best to constantly watch my siblings and tried to stop them from doing anything stupid.

Protecting them from every fall and bruise was impossible, but I did manage to cease anything that might have permanently harmed them.

The whole thing just made me wonder _why_ our mother did not just find someone who could watch us while she was otherwise occupied. But then I remembered the looks she sometimes sent me, the way her eyes practically screamed that she _knew._

Esther trusted me more than anyone should trust a child and as much as I feared it, there was no denying that she might be aware about _who_ I truly was.

Witches could feel and see things a normal human could not and it wouldn't be too surprising if she had already discerned the truth about me.

 _What would it mean for me if Esther knew that I wasn't truly her daughter?_

''You see, it doesn't taste so bad.'' I said after he finally swallowed his first mouthful. ''Not like those carrots, huh?''

''Mhmm...'' Was his only answer along with taking the spoon out of my hand.

Finn was about two years old now which meant that Freya and I were a little under the age of four. I wasn't an expert when it came to children, though I did remember the mess Freya could create some time ago, so I regarded my little brother rather skeptically as he started spoon-feeding himself.

And just as I expected, half of the food on his spoon landed on his clothing before the utensil managed to reach his mouth. For a moment I considered taking over once again, but then I remembered what happened the last time my brother did not get what he wanted from the both of us and immediately stopped my hand from moving.

A temper tantrum wasn't what I currently needed.

Besides, mother could not fault us for anything that happened. We were only children and she could not expect too much of us. As our clothes were the only things that could actually get dirty here—The grass underneath us did not matter.—I did not stop him from throwing his remaining dinner around us.

If the wasted food or dirtied clothes bothered our mother too much, then she would most likely find a person that could take care of us during such occasions and that was something that would certainly lessen my stress levels.

Despite my wishes and reluctance, I was soon forced to interfere. Both Freya and I weren't all that much bigger than Finn which made it hard for us to carry him. I could see that he was slowly getting too heavy for twin and that prompted me to take him off her lap and put him onto my own.

Getting some of the broth onto my own dress was unavoidable.

Sighing rather loudly, I leaned my head against the top of Finn's head and blew some air on his dark tresses. That seemed to immediately grab his attention as he let go of the small spoon and giggled loudly.

His small chubby hands took a hold of the arm I had wrapped around his waist and raised it towards his face. Afterwards the little brat actually dared to take the sleeve of my dress into his mouth, his spit wetting the whole material.

Knowing better than to just take something from him—It was only with us that he reacted so badly. Father and mother received as much respect as a person could get from a toddler.—I decided to once again steer his attention away from his current 'obsession'. Using my left hand, I let my fingers wander over his ribs.

A found smile appeared on my lips when I heard his responding giggles and it widened once I felt Freya moving behind me and wrapping her arms around the both of us.

She leaned her head on my shoulder and I could her lips twitching upwards.

As if it could feel our happiness, the grass surrounding us became just a tad bit greener.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary: In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to save. [Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Freya's twin.]**

 **Have fun.**

* * *

 _The Hanging Tree  
_

 _Chapter 5_

 _Dancing On My Own_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Where The End Was Not Expected  
_

* * *

 _"It all goes away. Eventually, everything goes away."  
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love _

* * *

Mother's next pregnancy did not come as a surprise.

I had been expecting it. Expecting the time when another one of my seven siblings would be born. From what I knew, Elijah was to be the next one and would be then followed by Niklaus. Considering that my third brother would be the product of an affair with a werewolf, we would have to be leaving for the New World soon.

 _Freya would most likely die even before Elijah was born._

''Don't frown.'' A small finger poked her forehead as Finn leaned into her personal space. He was pouting slightly, his lower-lip jutting out in dissatisfaction.

Indignantly, I swatted away his hand and pursed my lips. ''You know that I don't like it when you poke me.''

''You are the one who is always saying that we will get wrinkles if we frown too much,'' said Freya as she leaned her upper body against my back and used her chin to stab my shoulder. She probably did not mean to hurt me, but that changed nothing about the unpleasantness of our current position.

Shrugging my shoulders, I tried to signal that Freya should move. Unfortunately, she did not seem to get the hint or at least did not want to. That left me with no other choice but to stand up and move away from her. It might have been slightly harsh, however, I wasn't currently in the mood to entertain my siblings.

I wasn't in the mood to do much anything, actually. The knowledge that sister would die soon and there was nothing I could do against it put a damper on most things.

'' _Too much,_ Freya.'' After settling comfortably on our cot next to Mother, I added: ''I wasn't frowning _too much.''_

And wasn't that just fantastic? I had just started an argument with a child.

Mother, bless her wretched soul, interrupted us before the whole conversation could turn into a real childish spat. ''Well, I do believe that your sister is right. You do seem to be frowning a lot in the last few days, my darling.''

''I'm not,'' I muttered while picking at the edge of my blanket.

Freya just grinned brightly and looked at Finn for some support. Within seconds they seemed to come to an understanding and chose to turn their eyes towards. Both of them had something akin to smirks on their faces. ''You are!''

Instead of denying their proclamation, I decided to look at our mother. ''I just...I just have a _bad_ feeling...like something is about to happen.''

There was something freeing about telling the woman of my fears. While it did not alleviate my guilt, it did seem to take some of the weight off my shoulders. Especially because unlike many other adults, Esther did not immediately dismiss my concerns. She took a moment to think about what she was going to say next and then she tried to smile reassuringly. As a witch, Esther Mikaelson was very open-minded, in particular when it came to the supernatural.

Considering that I was a witch as well, the Mikaelson matriarch might have even considered if this 'bad feeling' of mine was some kind of premonition.

''You should not worry too much, Eira.'' She carded a hand through my blonde locks. ''If something happens, I _will_ take care of it.''

 _(...Somehow I doubted that...)_

Father sparred me from continuing our talk by suddenly entering our hut. The snow of this winter had fallen a few days ago, so the furs covering his body were sprinkled with it. A small smile tilted his lips upwards as his gaze landed on us. ''I'm home.''

Father's voice immediately caught the attention of all the room's occupants. Without a fail, each of us turned to regard him. Whereas I basked in the reprieve his sudden appearance granted me, both of my siblings stood up from the position on the floor and ran to him.

Already used to their greetings, Father just knelled down and opened his arms widely just in time for Freya and Finn to jump into them. Together, they shrieked in delight. ''Father!''

He picked them both up at once and spun them in the air. The result was loud giggles from my siblings and a fond expression on Mother's face. Even I couldn't stay in a bad mood in such an atmosphere. Admittedly, it might have also had something to do with the fact that out of our parents, I trusted Mikael the most. I preferred spending time with him rather than my mother because a part of me blamed the woman for everything bad that would happen to our family in the future, even for the monster our father would one day end up being.

''Aren't you going to greet me, little Eira?'' Asked Father as he let go of my siblings with one of his arms and put it to the side, inviting me to join the embrace.

Sighing fondly, I slid down from the bed. Although I wasn't as enthusiastic as my siblings, that did not mean that I would not enjoy greeting our father properly. There was just something very comforting about Mikael's hugs.

When I finally reached them, I was instantly squashed half against Father and half against Finn. Afterwards, we once again found ourselves being moved upwards. Mikael spun us gently around the room and as some of his fingers grazed my ribs, I could not stop myself from laughing loudly.

And just like that, for a moment, I was allowed to forget our future troubles.

* * *

''What are you doing, Father?''

For second Mikael stopped moving the knife in his right hand and his gaze wandered up to meet mine. He tilted his head to the side and motioned for me to sit down besides him. ''Carving.''

And wasn't that just an eloquent answer? During my time in this new life I had gotten used to the fact that my new father was a man of very few words, but sometimes this attribute could be immensely irritating.

Now, was such a time. ''I see that.''

Shaking my head in exasperation, I sat down besides him on the soft cot. Before I could even think about asking for the blanket at the other end of the bed, Mikael had already picked it up and put it around my shoulders. As I snuggled into it, I pointed at the vague shape in his left hand. ''I wanted to know _what_ you're carving.''

''Your little sibling will be born soon.'' He continued working on the small figurine. ''This will be its first gift.''

If there was one thing I liked about Mikael, then it was the fact that he did not seem to care about the gender of his children. He did not immediately assume that Esther would give birth to a son, neither did he feel disappointed due to having a daughter as his first born.

Leaning slightly forward, I peered over his arm at the unfinished figurine he was holding. ''What's it gonna be?''

Father moved the wood in my field of vision and rolled it carefully in his hand. ''It is meant to be a horse.''

''A horse?'' My eyebrows furrowed and the skepticism was clear in my voice. ''That's kind of lame.''

Confusion appeared on the viking's face and a small frown marred his forehead. Once again Father stopped carving to regard me with a questioning look. At first I did not understand what was wrong, though that changed as soon as he repeated one of my words. ''Lame?''

For moment I did not know whether I should laugh or cry. From time to time I was reminded by the smallest of things of how far away from home I actually was. These were incredibly different times when compared to the 21st century. That was something I was forced to face over and over again.

''I mean boring.'' This time I fortunately used the right phrase. ''Don't you want to make something more special?''

''Like?'' Father looked as skeptical as I felt.

Drumming my fingers against my knees, I looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. ''I don't know. An owl perhaps. Or you could make a stag.''

''An owl would be hard to make just about now,'' declared Mikael as he softly touched what looked to be hooves with his knife. ''A stag should still be possible.''

Nudging my side softly, Father gifted me with one of his rare gentle smiles. I had never seen him smile at Esther like that, so it was probably an expression he reserved for his children. ''If your little sibling does not like it, you will have to explain why the stag turned out the way it did.''

I rolled my eyes. ''It won't be my fault, if you're not talented enough to carve a proper stag.''

Bemusement lightened his eyes and Mikael _laughed._

* * *

The dreaded day arrived sooner than I thought it would, though the way in which it did could not have been any more different from what I had actually expected. That morning started like any other. I woke up alongside Freya and Finn and helped them prepare themselves before I took care of myself. Mother was already waiting for us in the kitchen area once we were ready and served us some porridge for breakfast.

Since most of the men had gone out to hunt in the early morning hours, our home was devoid of our father. While mother chose to take care of some chores, I was tasked with entertaining my siblings and stopping them from doing anything too stupid.

Esther's pregnancy wasn't too far along yet, but she was already showing. By now, we all knew that the newest addition to our family would be a boy because Mother had performed the same ritual she had used during her pregnancy with Finn.

For all of her faults, Esther Mikaelson was a great witch. The woman knew what she was talking about when she claimed that her next child would be a boy. Even without my future knowledge I would have believed her premonition.

We were starting our second round of hide and seek when someone unexpectedly knocked on the door of our hut. Mother reached it before I did and opened the entrance to our home without an ounce of hesitation.

 _All the blood suddenly seemed to leave her face._

I did not think that I had ever seen someone's pallor change so drastically in such a short time. Esther became as white as a sheet at the sight of the woman who greeted her once she opened the door and her hands started to tremble slightly.

That wasn't what truly managed to shock me into silence though, it was the one word she uttered next. _''_ _Sister.''_

''Hello, Esther.'' The dark haired stranger - Our aunt? - put a stray lock behind her ear. ''It has been a while.''

''What are you doing here, Dahlia?'' Questioned our mother as she pressed one of her hands against her growing stomach.

''Isn't it obvious?'' There was a dark amusement on their supposed aunt's face. ''I have come to take what is mine.''

It was then that I felt the pressure in the air rise and realized how outranked we all truly were. Whoever this Dahlia was, was eclipsed by the simple fact that she was the most powerful witch I had met until now. I could feel her power permeating the air and grazing my skin. It was thick and frightening in many ways. I knew that if she truly wanted to, she could kill us all.

 _Not even Mother would stand a chance._

''What is yours?'' Esther looked genuinely confused.

Dahlia tutted. ''We made a bargain, sister, and now I have come for my end of the deal. It's your choice whether we take care of this inside your home or out in the open.''

Mother's eyes darted around our home and I realized with a sudden trepidation that she did not want to invite her sister inside. What was going on?

''You can leave us alone for a while, Mother. I'll make sure that nothing happens.'' I whispered in hopes that Dahlia wouldn't hear me.

After a moment of deliberation, Mother nodded her head in acceptance. Motioning outside, Esther waited until her sister moved and only then did she start walking as well. The door was shut firmly behind her and I would have sighed in relief if it weren't for the trepidation I could not shake off no matter how hard I tried.

The feeling did not turn out to be unfounded as only a few minutes later Dahlia stormed into our hut. Her gaze zeroed on my sister and she moved towards her with long purposeful struts. Despite my attempt to shield Freya, our aunt still managed to get a hold of my twin's wrist and started to drag the small girl outside.

One thing led to another and suddenly we all were standing outside the hut, Freya's wrist trapped by Dahlia.

Somewhere along the way Mother had put her hands on Finn's and my shoulders. Her grip was tight, nails digging into my skin.

''You can't do this,'' implored Esther, pushing both Finn and me against her to stop especially me from reaching out to Freya. The sound of protest that left my lips was easily ignored by her. ''Please don't do this.''

Whatever was happening here, I knew that it would not end well. Panic started welling up inside my chest as I watched Dahlia pulling my twin even farther away from me.

 _Freya cried out in fright._

Her magic was reaching out to me, trying to pierce through the thick sea that was our aunt's power. I pushed my own magic outwards, trying to do something that would stop the current proceedings.

''You wanted a family. Fate said otherwise, so you came to me and for a price I granted your _wish,''_ hissed Dahlia, her face contorting into an ugly grimace.

 _What had Mother done?_

The dark haired sister sneered viciously. ''Now, I must collect.''

The skin of my palms broke due to how hard I was clenching my fits, though I ignored it in favor of trying to free myself of Esther's grasp. A disgusting realization was slowly being shaped in my mind and I knew that if I did not do something _now,_ I would lose my twin sister.

I would lose Freya.

My magic lashed out and blew some of the snow underneath our feet in the air. This outburst was quickly tempered by a small wave of Dahlia's hand. It was as if nothing had happened at all and at that very moment I grasped how _futile_ my attempts truly were. I did not stand a chance here.

''When Mikael returns from his journey, I swear...'' Dahlia did not even let her finish the sentence before she interrupted her. ''You will tell him Freya grew ill and died!''

 _It was all a lie._

Finn was was struggling now too and his effort was even more pitiable than mine. ''Freya! Freya!''

''No, Dahlia.'' Tears streamed down Esther's face.

There was no mercy to be given. Disregarding all of our distress, Dahlia continued talking. ''You will tell him that you were forced to burn the body to stop the spread of the plague.''

Instead of trying to save her daughter, Esther just continued beginning a woman that felt clearly no sympathy for her. Seeing no other way, I grabbed a hold of our mother's hand and started to apply pressure. Due to my young age, I did not have the strength to cause any real harm, but I did manage to draw blood with my nails. This seemed to shock Esther enough to loosen her hold on me.

Desperately, I threw myself forward and took a hold of Freya's outstretched hand. An arm quickly slid around my waist, but I did not let it pull me away from my sister. The hold I hand on her hand must have been painful. Just this once neither of minded the pain.

''Sister, please, I cannot give up my child.''

Dahlia pulled harshly on Freya's arm. ''You've already offered me more than just this one child. Our bargain was for this first born and every firstborn of each generation that is to come. For as long as your line shall last.''

 _What had Esther done?_

Shocked and more than a little outraged, I was faced with the fact that my supposed mother had made the typical deal with the devil.

 _To fulfill her own selfish wishes, Esther had sold her firstborn child and every firstborn child that would be born in her family._

Esther moved a step forward, her whole posture rigid. ''If you do this, if you take my daughter, I swear to you, I will return to the black arts. I will grow in power as a witch and I will make you pay.''

Make her pay? What a joke.

I could feel the power difference between the two sisters and I was certain that no matter how hard she tried, Esther would never compare to Dahlia.

Instead of continuing to listen to this whole farce, I focused on my crying sister. Even when I used all of my strength, I could not lessen the distance between us. ''It's alright, Freya. I'm here.''

''What's going on, sister?'' Her voice was meek and so very afraid.

Unwillingly, a sob escaped my lips. ''I don't know.''

The wind around as started to blow harder and I had to close my eyes to protect them. As the elements reacted according to our emotions, thick tears started sliding down my cheeks.

(...a small part of me had already given up...

...

...there was _nothing_ I could do...)

''...foolish girl. You knew the bargain you made and should you defy me, then I will take all of your children, including little Eira and Finn .''

At that my little brother started crying even harder and Esther quickly pulled him behind herself. ''Even unborn Elijah,'' continued the dark haired witch before forcefully ripping my sister from me. And then she just raised Freya into her arms and started walking away, ignoring the way the tiny child beat her back with her small fists.

''Mommy! Mommy!'' Freya cried and thrashed.

I tried running forward. An invisible force stopped me. Mother might have been saying something and yet I could not hear her. The only thing I did hear was Freya who had started shouting my name.

Our magic reached out to each other. Warm tendrils of energy connected for one last time and then my twin was _gone._


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary: In the middle of winter, just minutes after my twin sister, I was reborn into a world I knew everything about and into a family I would fail to save. [Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Freya's twin.]**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 _The Hanging Tree_

 _Chapter 6_

 _I'll Be Missing You_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Where Beliefs Are Tested_

* * *

 _"If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger."_  
 _― Emily Jane Brontë , Wuthering Heights_

 _"If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone?"_  
 _― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper_

* * *

Eira _hated,_ she hated more than she had ever before.

It wasn't a burning hatred, one that was bright and hot and quickly extinguished. The _loathing_ she felt was cold and slowly festering inside her chest, waiting for the right moment to be unleashed on those deserving of it.

 _Esther_ was the highest on that list.

The young girl could not even bring herself to look at her mother. Disgust continued swelling inside her chest, especially when she heard the lies Esther told her husband.

''The plague took her. We were forced to burn the body.'' Esther paused and swallowed heavily. ''I could not risk little Eira and Finn.''

At that, Mikael turned his gaze towards his supposedly only living children. His eyes mirrored Eira's pain and almost shocked the girl realized that the man was _crying._ Perhaps she should not have been this surprised by the man's reaction - Mikael had just been informed of the fact that his daughter was gone, _dead -_ but he had always been so strong. Eira had never seen him as anything but composed and the almost perfect definition of what a man was supposed to be in these times.

And yet, here he was, his hands trembling and eyes leaking tears.

Once Mikael's gaze landed on his remaining daughter, his face scrunched up slightly and he averted his eyes in Finn's direction.

It wasn't hard to realize what was wrong.

 _As Freya's identical twin, Eira would from now on be an eternal remainder of the daughter he had lost._

Still, that did not stop their father from walking up to them and pulling the two children into his arms.

Slowly, the blonde leaned her head against Mikael's shoulder and exhaled shakily. Her magic was writhing angrily, trying to influence the environment in way that it reflected the girl's emotions. It kept lashing out in form of winds in an attempt to find someone that wasn't there anymore.

''I'm here now,'' Mikael murmured into their ears. ''Everything is going to be alright, I'll make sure of that.''

It wasn't hard to guess how he would do that, not with the knowledge Eira had about their future. Soon, her family would be crossing the whole ocean on their way to what would once be known as America.

The thought of spending an unknown amount of time on a viking ship did nothing to make her situation appear any less bleak. Fact was that the only thing truly keeping them safe during their travel would be Ayanna's and Esther's magic, the latter having failed the girl only a few days before.

Esther could not even protect her family from her own sister, how could she hope to accomplish anything against a natural force such as the ocean?

Eira might have had some foreknowledge about the future, but that did not mean that she was aware of everything that was about to happen. How many casualties would arise during their travel? Which of their neighbors would die due to her mother's lie? Would Eira herself even survive crossing the sea?

Those were all questions the blonde had no answers to and that scared her more than anything else. Up until now, Eira had been entirely too confident in her foreknowledge. A part of her had always known that she would not be capable of saving her sister, but that same part had also anticipated an entirely different outcome than the one she was now faced with.

Freya Mikaelson was not dead and yet still entirely out of her reach. Although Eira rejoiced the fact that her sister was still among the living, she was also aware that such a status was not always to be celebrated.

 _In this world there were things far worse than death._

* * *

They traveled on horseback for weeks, Eira always sharing a steed with her father while Finn stayed with Esther.

The girl did not utter a word since the day of her twin's supposed death. Losing Freya had left a gaping hole somewhere deep within her very being, making her feel completely unsteady.

Fact was, that she did not even really know what to say. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Perhaps it was that Eira feared saying the _wrong_ thing.

Telling Mikael the truth about what had happened to his firstborn child would only endanger the man. Eira knew that should he be made aware of the true circumstances of Freya's supposed death, nothing could ever stop him from hunting down the woman who had taken his beloved child from him.

And Dahlia, well, Dahlia would not hesitate in killing her father.

Mikael would not stand a chance against the witch. Eira doubted that there was actually a witch or warlock currently in existence who could accomplish such a task and even if there was one, the girl had no idea how she would even start searching for such a person.

The blonde had already lost one family member, she did not want to lose another.

As such, she stayed quiet, not uttering even a single word. This way, she did not risk blurting out the sacrilege that Esther had committed.

A good thing was that her father did not seem to be in a talkative mood either. Besides him, there were only two other people who really tried talking to her.

Esther was quickly shut down when it became clear to her that right now - _never_ \- Eira wanted to have nothing to do with her. Finn was a whole other matter, but their current expedition allowed the girl to easily stay out of his way as well.

Honestly, she just wanted to be left alone for a while and _grieve_ quietly.

* * *

To cross the ocean, they first needed to get a hold of enough ships to fit their entire tribe inside of.

It was a fortunate thing that vikings were generally very good warriors and that their superior amount of members alone ensured an almost seamless victory. Many of their men still died and the smell of blood did not leave Eira's nose for days, but ultimately they reached their goal.

(...when the young blonde first entered the fisher village, bile immediately rose into her mouth at the sight of all the mangled bodies before her...

...

... _she retched until there nothing was left in her stomach and her whole body hurt...)_

Afterwards, it took them a few more weeks to gather enough supplies for their long journey. From afar, Eira watched listlessly how Esther and Ayanna put preservation spells on the food and then directed the man to distribute it among the different ships. A few weeks ago, she might have asked one of the woman to teach it to both Freya and herself, but things were different now.

For one, there was no Freya.

So, Eira just watched the proceedings surrounding her in silence until the evening before their departure arrived.

The girl had known that he father was a pagan and that Esther followed his beliefs out of necessity. Or at least, she had thought that it was necessity.

Normally, children did not partake in the different rituals of this religion, not until they reached a certain age anyways. Both Eira and Finn were too young to actually witness this and yet the severity of their circumstance forced every single member of their tribe to attend this sacrifice to the gods.

At first, Eira believed this custom to be needlessly barbaric. She did not see the sense in public killings of animals. The blood that spurted out of the goat's slit throat repulsed the girl and she knew that it would be the cause of many nightmares for Finn.

Those thoughts halted immediately when the blonde noticed the air around her _thickening._ No better words came to her mind to describe what was happening in the clearing. Eira just knew that the air she was inhaling became heavier with each breath she took.

In the background, she vaguely registered Mikael praying to both Thor and Odin, asking them for a safe passage across the sea.

Focusing on what he saying became harder with each passing second. This wasn't only due to the fact that the people of their tribe were joining him one after another, but also because of the sudden appearance of something _other._

 _It_ surrounded her on all sides, pressing softly against her skin. The sensation was akin to light electricity dancing all over her body. A level of power Eira had never felt before and could not even begin to comprehend.

All-encompassing and omnipotent, that was how it appeared to be.

 _A god showing just a tiny bit of power to the humans that worshiped him._

Eira almost felt as if she were drunk. Drunk on this divine presence that saturated the whole clearing.

Out of the corner of her left eye, she noticed that her brother did not seem to be faring any better. With his eyes wide open and mouth agape, Finn looked at the sky, searching for the gods that had blessed them with their presence that evening.

No one else seemed to be as affected as the two siblings, though she guessed that this ritual might have had the same effect on both Esther and Ayanna. The way her own magic seemed to writhe happily because of the current happenings indicated that.

In her previous life the girl had been catholic. After being reborn in this world Eira had started questioning that belief, but never quite stopped believing into the existence of some higher being.

And yet, she had never consider being pagan. She wasn't even sure if she did right now.

Although she knew that whatever their prayers had called upon wasn't human, Eira couldn't be sure that _it_ was a Nordic god either. For all she knew this could be the presence of magic itself or perhaps the Greek god Zeus who decided to come by for some fun.

Thus, while Eira knew that something _divine_ was happening around her, she did not actually deign to give this presence a name.

It was not her place as a human to give shape or a name to a _god._

(...still, she would never forget this all-encompassing _other..._

...

...the way its power crackled over her skin and boost her own magic...

...

...

...it made Eira, for the first time in months, feel _alive...)_


End file.
